About this event

Almost 25 years ago I first heard the call to serve God and His Church as a deacon.  After prayerful consideration, Melissa and I determined that we needed to focus on our beautiful family, which is our first and primary vocation.  On Easter Sunday 2021, I again heard the call to the diaconate.  For the last four years, Melissa and I have walked this journey together, balancing family, work and the formation program.  The journey has been challenging but fruitful, and we are thankful for saying Yes to God’s call.

Below is some information from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) regarding the Order of Deacon:

“At a lower level of the hierarchy are to be found deacons, who receive the imposition of hands ‘not unto the priesthood, but unto the ministry.’”  At an ordination to the diaconate only the bishop lays hands on the candidate, thus signifying the deacon’s special attachment to the bishop in the tasks of his “diakonia.” (CCC, 1569)

Deacons share in Christ’s mission and grace in a special way. The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint (“character”) which cannot be removed and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the “deacon” or servant of all. Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity.      (CCC, 1570)

Since the Second Vatican Council the Latin Church has restored the diaconate “as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy,” while the Churches of the East had always maintained it. This permanent diaconate, which can be conferred on married men, constitutes an important enrichment for the liturgical expression in the custom of the presbyters’ imposing hands, after the bishop, during the rite of ordination.  (CCC, 1571)